"Have you passed the day pleasantly?" inquired Clarence, thinking he might lead up to the subject on which he desired light. "Quite pleasantly," answered Ben. "New York is a beautiful city." "I was afraid you had got into a scrape," said Clarence. "As I was walking along Broadway, soon after you left father's office, I saw a boy just like you in charge of a policeman." "Poor fellow! I hope he got off. Did you stop and speak to him?" "No; I was so surprised that I stood still and stared till it was too late." "I am not at all anxious to make the acquaintance of the police," said Ben, not sorry to have put his cousin off the scent. "You have changed your dress," said Clarence, wishing to satisfy his curiosity in another direction. "Yes," answered Ben, with studied indifference. "You have a good seat to-night." "Yes; I have an excellent view of the play." "The orchestra seats are high-priced. I thought you were short of money." "I was, but I am earning a good income now, and----" "You haven't got a place, have you?" ejaculated his cousin, in surprise. "Yes, I have." "Is it in a store?" "No; I am private secretary to a gentleman living at the Metropolitan Hotel." "Private secretary!" exclaimed Clarence, in continued surprise. "You can't be fit for such a position. How did you get it?" "I am not sure whether I shall suit," said Ben, "but the gentleman applied to me, and I accepted." "I never heard of anything so strange. How much pay do you get?" "Fifty dollars a month and board." "It can't be possible!" "That is what I say to myself," responded Ben, good-naturedly. "I am afraid that my employer will find out that he is paying me too much money." "Are you staying at the Metropolitan, too?" "Yes, for the present." "I will call on you before long." "Thank you." "My aristocratic cousin seems disposed to be very polite to me now," thought Ben. "I am glad I put him off the track about the arrest." "Excuse me," he said. "I believe the curtain is rising." "Who is that fine-looking boy you were just speaking to?" asked Percy Van Dyke, who came up at this moment. "It is a cousin of mine," answered Clarence, not unwillingly. "I should like to know what tailor he employs. He is finely dressed, and a handsome fellow, besides." "Of course, being a cousin of mine," said Clarence, with a smirk. "How does it happen I have never met your cousin before?" "He has only recently come to the city. He is staying at the Metropolitan just at present." Wonders will never cease. Here was Clarence Plantagenet Walton, the son of a wealthy merchant, actually acknowledging with complacency his relationship to a country cousin whom earlier in the day he had snubbed. He did not have another chance to speak to Ben that evening, as his cousin remained in his seat till the close of the performance, and in the throng at the close he lost sight of him. As he and his father were walking home, Clarence said: